Beer and Cheese, why yes please!
Boozy and Smoky usually brings up visions of a dive bar. For me, I think Potato Soup.
Potato soup was my grandmother Ronnie’s specialty– and spending summers and Christmas vacations in Connecticut, it didn’t matter whether it was 90 degrees or -9 below zero— I always requested her potato soup. She didn’t add the bacon, cheese or BEER to her soup, so I just decided to up her game a bit. Hope you don’t mind, Ronnie!
Boozy, Smoky Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 4 Idaho baking potatoes
- ½ Vidalia onion chopped
- 3 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 Tb butter
- ¼ cup flour
- ¾ cup Guinness beer
- 2 cups of half and half
- 2 tsp Worcestershire
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup smoked Gruyere cheese (plus more for topping)
- Cooked and crumbled bacon (bake strips at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, blot with paper towel and then crumble)
- Chopped chives
Instructions
- Peel and chop 4 Idaho baking potatoes.
- Boil water in a large soup pan or dutch oven and toss potatoes in—simmer until tender, 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop up ½ of a large Vidalia onion with 3 chopped garlic cloves and saute in 1 Tb butter. Stir for about a minute on medium heat until onion and garlic gets light golden in color.
- Add ¼ cup of flour and stir for one minute.
- Add ¾ cup Guinness beer, 2 cups of half and half, 2 tsp of Worcestershire, 1 tsp of ground mustard and 1 tsp of kosher salt. Stir until mixture thickens, 3-4 minutes.
- When potatoes are soft, drain them and set aside 2 cups.
- Take rest of potatoes and mix with onion/garlic/Guinness mixture. Add one cup of chicken stock.
- Put soup in blender or food processor in 2 batches (don’t fill too high or blender will explode!) and blend till smooth.
- Pour soup back into soup pan/dutch oven and add the 2 cups of softened potatoes. Add 1 cup of smoked gruyere cheese shredded. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
- Top with crumbled bacon, chopped green onions and more gruyere.